Re: FW: [Mpls] 3rd ward- a council seat up for auction?
Small neighborhood printers very often are family run and operated small businesses, who only employ family members and are non-union. But being non-union is their choice -- Family members are permitted in unions, after all. They also should be able to print material as a donation to a candidate. I see nothing wrong with a legitimate business making a legitimate contribution of printing labor. Maybe you see nothing wrong with this, Jim, but the County Attorney sure would! Minnesota law specifically prohibits such business contributions, whether in-kind labor or actual cash contributions. Also, all the printing jobs that have been mentioned on this list recently are well above the legal limit for contributions to a City Council Candidate. Tim Bonham, Ward 12, Standish-Ericsson . . . Jim Graham, Ventura Village - South Minneapolis but still affected by who the 3rd Ward folks elect. (So do a good job) ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Bike Racks
Target or no Target, subsidy or no subsidy, I think every block on the Mall should have a bike rack or two. That can't break the bank. Heck, let bikers do some creative brainstorming on financing solutions. We built I don't know how many public parking ramps for cars. Couldnt we spend a hundred-thousandth of that money to provide a place to lock a bike? = = Jim MorkCooper Neighborhood Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God--Matthew 5:9 United for Peace http://www.unitedforpeace.org/ __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Owner, with public aid, profits on North Side lot
Owner, with public aid, profits on North Side lot Steve Brandt Star Tribune Published Dec. 27, 2002 The vacant lot on the North Side of Minneapolis sat unwanted for five years after it was forfeited for back taxes. So Hennepin County was glad to unload it in 1997 for $469. The buyer, the North Side Economic Development Council (NEDC), was a fledgling nonprofit organization that soon would come under fire for a number of problems, including using its public money to buy property. Early in 2000, the NEDC unloaded the residential lot at 1504 Irving Av. N. for the same price to James L. Stroud Jr., who until a few months before sat on its board of directors. Stroud sold the lot this year for $17,000, or 36 times what he paid for it. A case of government-assisted land speculation? Or just the NEDC's economic development strategy gone awry? http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3557101.html Shawn Lewis, Field Neighborhood -- ___ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup Meet Singles http://corp.mail.com/lavalife ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Longtime civil rights activist and agitator Ron Edwards talksabout the city he loves and hates
COVER STORY . VOL 23 #1151 . PUBLISHED 12/25/02 RECKLESS EYEBALLIN' by Britt Robson Go to a meeting of the Minneapolis city council, the civil rights commission, a community gathering at Lucille's Kitchen, or any of a dozen other places where city policy is being discussed and implemented, and you're likely to see Ron Edwards perched in a corner or camped in the back of the room, taking it all in. Tune to Channel 17 at 5:00 p.m. on a Sunday, and you'll see him again on Black Focus, recounting the week's hot issues with minimal notes and plenty of candor, delivering a rambling but ultimately coherent 30-minute soliloquy that's likely to include behind-the-scenes details--municipal machinations and motivations that you won't get anywhere else. Edwards has been breaking news and raising hackles in this town since the '60s, when he founded People Employing People and began his lifetime work, nearly all of it unpaid, as a community advocate. He has chaired the Civil Rights Commission and the Minneapolis Urban League and served on the executive committee of the local naacp. On November 1, Beacon Hill Press published The Minneapolis Story Through My Eyes, Edwards's compelling memoir that connects the dots between his decades of activism and the current state of the city. http://www.citypages.com/databank/23/1151/article10965.asp Shawn Lewis, Field Neighborhood -- ___ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup Meet Singles http://corp.mail.com/lavalife ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Valdis is the best 3rd Ward candidate: Here's why.....
From today's Strib GOP agenda is better suited to needs of the black community http://www.startribune.com/stories/562/3557955.html Vicky Heller Cedar-Riverside and North Oaks ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
RE: [Mpls] 3rd ward- a council seat up for auction?
Michael Guest wrote: Dyna, Joe is spending time with friends at the moment. We just saw Gangs of New York and are discussing the implications. Unfortunately he is unable to jump to answer your veiled accusations and desperate attempts to find a diversion to the real issues of the campaign. Michael, accountability is the major issue in this campaign. We just had our last councilmember convicted of a felony in federal court for taking a smaller amount than Bob Samuels' questionable campaign printing probably cost. So I asked Joe how the literature portion of the Samuels campaign budget is constructed. He called up the stairs to me that there were five pieces mailed to a universe of about 3,000 at an average of .27/piece. No donations, no free labor; an additional 2 pieces doorknocked; on top of that were fundraising letters volunteer recruitment letters. OK, $.27 apiece is close enough to the carrier route presort rate of $.275 to be believable. That still leaves the cost of the printing, which could very well be 27 cents a piece, unexplained. Don Samuels' campaign still hasn't accounted for mailhouse costs either- I have a hard time believing his volunteers licked and sticked 15,000 of those stamps in the last holiday week. The presorted first class diner stamps Don Samuels' campaign used are available in rolls for mailhouses to machine apply to give the appearance of a small mailing, and are difficult for normal citizens such as us to acquire. Mailhouses typically charge about half the presort discount, in this case at most $.095. For Don Samuels' 15,000 piece mailing that comes to about $700 that Don Samuels' campaign still hasn't accounted for. Add in the cost of the fancy cards and envelopes (at least 20 cents apiece) and Don Samuels' campaign has yet to account for more expenses than our last councilman was convicted of receiving as a donation. And Don Samuels has yet to make it through the primary, never mind actually get into office. I asked if the campaign had received any major in-kind donations or PAC funds. His answer: No -- and as long as Don is running against the DFL, Republican and Green party endorsed candidates I don't really expect we will get any either. When a candidate receives thousands of dollars worth of unaccounted for campaign donations I suspect they don't need a lot of above the table donations. I also asked him why the print shop he used wasn't union and if they were huge and went to extreme lengths to keep their employees from forming a union. His answer? No, it is a small family owned, minority owned business in the third ward doing extremely high tech digital graphics and printing. Everyone does everything in the shop and it is not conducive to the union job classifications. He noted that it never was a union shop and that the employees are paid comparable or higher then union wages. I should hope so, but in todays hi tech meltdown computer graphics professionals are a dime a dozen and some scab employers are taking advantage of that market. Then he went into the class implications of the movie. . . . but that is another story. Another attempt to evade the issue. So, nice try Dyna but let's get back to the issues. And a not so nice try by Don Samuels' campaign to avoid the issue of accountability. This issue is a day old now and 3rd ward voters have yet to see Don Samuels account for his campaign finances. If Don Samuels can't tell us where the money for his campaign came from, why should 3rd ward voters trust him with the city's finances? Michael S Guest Powderhorn Nice of all the folks from outside the 3rd to help us pick our next Council Member... PS: Don is on WCCO radio tonight. He is fantastic! Nice to get all that free media, will WCCO and the rest be giving the other candidates equal time? We 3rd ward voters need a candidate who can balance the city's and his own finances rather than get media coverage every day. from Hawthorne in the 3rd ward, Dyna Sluyter ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] MCDA small business loans
I just paid $3,500 for a replacement boiler. That included. 1. New boiler 2. Removal of old boiler 3. New honeywell zone valves in the 11 apartments 4. Installation 5. Permit 6. Circulating Pump 7. All pipes and plumbing needed at boiler or zones. 8. Labor Now I'll specutlate. Did the MDCA suggest, provide, or in anyway help Kelly O'Brien pick her contractor? IF they did, it might explain a little the desrepency between what mine cost VS hers. Craig Miller Formerly Camden's 3rd largest landlord [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: steven meldahl To: Kelly O'Brien ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, December 27, 2002 4:33 PM Subject: Re: [Mpls] MCDA small business loans How the heck can you pay $30,000 for a new boiler??? If the building where you replaced the boiler is the one just down from the Art Institute, you got screwed. Unless you replaced all the plumbing runs and radiators. Steve Meldahl Jordan (work) - Original Message - From: Kelly O'Brien To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2002 10:51 PM Subject: [Mpls] MCDA small business loans Thank goodness for the MCDA small business loan program! A few years ago the Hennepin History Museum needed to replace an 80+ year old boiler. With the help of the MCDA we were able to deal with this emergency by taking a loan of $30,000 to pay for the boiler--half at around 9% from Franklin Bank (our neighborhood bank) and half at 2% or so from the MCDA. This program helped us maintain our home in the Whittier neighborhood and the blended rate was something oursmall nonprofitbudgetcould cope with. Thank you MCDA! Kelly O'Brien Kingfield HHM Board President
[Mpls] 3rd Ward...can we focus on something substantial please?
I have tended to stay out of the debate concering the third ward council race (other than my interview with Brother Shane). But I take issue with Dyna's offhand comment about people outside of the third ward helping third warders pick their council candidate. I have a huge interest in who is elected from the third ward to the city council. Why? Because the votes and decisions made by that council member have a binding effect on the entire city and not just the 3rd Ward. I didn't hear Dyna issuing statements of concern with the hundreds of thousands of dollars that rolled into Senator Wellstone's re-election campaign from private citizens living outside the borders of Minnesota. Let's not use any excuse possible to attack candidates. It seems as if a few folks on this list are more interested in discrediting various candidates based on superficial and unfounded assumptions rather than openly discussing and debating the various plans the council members have for addressing the needs of the city. If Dyna is supporting Olin Moore, then let's talk about Olin Moore's plan for the city. It's been established that each of the candidates has some form of support, no matter how small, in the third ward. Now let's put up each agenda against the other and have a real debate about who will be best for the 3rd Ward. Right now the discussion seems to be less than civil and more the teeth gnashing of DFL insiders feeling threatened. Why oh why are we upset that the 3rd Ward has something around 15 or so candidates for office? We should be celebrating that there are so many people that are willing to spend their time, money, and energy campaigning and engaged in the political process in the 3rd ward. Does anyone know how many people campaigned in the 3rd Ward primary in the last regular election? I commend all those who are running in the 3rd Ward. You have my congratulations and my sincerest support in your efforts to be active in the political process. -Brandon Lacy -Powderhorn Park _ MSN 8 limited-time offer: Join now and get 3 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/dialupxAPID=42PS=47575PI=7324DI=7474SU= http://www.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsgHL=1216hotmailtaglines_newmsn8ishere_3mf ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] union printers
Keith Reitman states: I believe an 'in kind' donation from a small, independent business surviving in the hood is sweeter money then 'Machine made money'. It is also illegal. Corporate donations are illegal in Minnesota elections. And in-kind donations can be made only by people, not businesses. In addition, they cannot be any larger than the cash amount that can be donated by any person, in this case I believe $300. So an owner of a printshop can donate up to $300 worth of printing and must be listed in the candidate's campaign finance disclosures as personally giving an in-kind donation of that amount. But a company cannot. linda higgins old highland ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] MCDA small business loans
A good friend of mine just replaced a boiler and all feed runs in a commercial building that includes a bowling alley, restaurant, 2 businesses and 12 apartments above the commercial area for $18,000. This building is probably 5 times larger than the small Hennepin County museum. This just goes to show that anytime an agency or any entity with ties to the government needs something done in any "trade" area such as heating, the cost is 5 to 10 times higher than it should be! Guess who pays for it! Steve Meldahl Jordan (work) - Original Message - From: Craig Miller To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2002 9:50 AM Subject: Re: [Mpls] MCDA small business loans I just paid $3,500 for a replacement boiler. That included. 1. New boiler 2. Removal of old boiler 3. New honeywell zone valves in the 11 apartments 4. Installation 5. Permit 6. Circulating Pump 7. All pipes and plumbing needed at boiler or zones. 8. Labor Now I'll specutlate. Did the MDCA suggest, provide, or in anyway help Kelly O'Brien pick her contractor? IF they did, it might explain a little the desrepency between what mine cost VS hers. Craig Miller Formerly Camden's 3rd largest landlord [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: steven meldahl To: Kelly O'Brien ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, December 27, 2002 4:33 PM Subject: Re: [Mpls] MCDA small business loans How the heck can you pay $30,000 for a new boiler??? If the building where you replaced the boiler is the one just down from the Art Institute, you got screwed. Unless you replaced all the plumbing runs and radiators. Steve Meldahl Jordan (work) - Original Message - From: Kelly O'Brien To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2002 10:51 PM Subject: [Mpls] MCDA small business loans Thank goodness for the MCDA small business loan program! A few years ago the Hennepin History Museum needed to replace an 80+ year old boiler. With the help of the MCDA we were able to deal with this emergency by taking a loan of $30,000 to pay for the boiler--half at around 9% from Franklin Bank (our neighborhood bank) and half at 2% or so from the MCDA. This program helped us maintain our home in the Whittier neighborhood and the blended rate was something oursmall nonprofitbudgetcould cope with. Thank you MCDA! Kelly O'Brien Kingfield HHM Board President
[Mpls] Back-flow preventers
Here's a post that will have my anti-bureaucracy and landlord friends chuckling with I told you so... So we're selling our house (anyone want to live in prestigious East Kingfield?). Part of the selling process is getting a Truth-In-Housing inspection. Our abode - lovingly upgraded from the rental property it was when we bought it - passed with flying colors...except for the dreaded back-flow preventer. These small pieces of shrapnel apparently keep water from flowing into the city's water system if somehow there is negative pressure. We need three of them. Two are $5 parts that screw on our exterior hose faucet and the one in our laundry tub. The third is a bit more problematic...it goes on the water supply to our boiler. That means cutting copper pipe, installing the thing, adding a second shut-off valve...in other words, a plumber and a permit. Since our plumbing was upgraded three years ago, I asked the inspector what the deal was. New requirement as of June 1, he explained. It's a silly thing...you'd probably only need one if a car hit the fire hydrant outside AND your boiler water supply was turned on...then the negative pressure might suck the water out of your radiators into the city system. Anyone with a boiler knows how infrequently they add water to their system. Our water supply has probably been on for a grand total of five minutes in the 8 years we've owned the house. The odds of negative pressure occurring WHILE the water supply is on roughly match the chances of winning the Powerball. So, my question: why was this requirement added? What was the justification? As always, I'll accede to superior info, but right now, this looks like one silly regulation. David Brauer King Field ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Shane is the best 3rd Ward candidate: Here's why.....
From Dennis Tester's opinion piece, with my comments prefaced by [MS]: -- The Dec. 21 editorial Lott's out / But GOP agenda will speak volumes is total nonsense. It's a mystery to me why most black people don't vote Republican. The GOP agenda, which the Star Tribune finds so objectionable, includes: School vouchers, which are popular with many black parents. [MS] - I think more parents, of any race, would prefer adequate funding of public schools. What is the GOP's record there? I know one 3rd Ward candidate who's endorsed by the party that considers the public schools to be a public trust and a public asset. As such, they should be supported by public taxes. To learn more about this novel concept, see: http://www.mngreens.org/platform.html#education So 3rd Ward residents who support such a view should consider Shane Price. Government financial support for faith-based social services, which would affect black churches and enhance their ability to deliver services to their communities. [MS] - Or maybe blacks would prefer that social services simply be adequately funded rather than be scaled back in favor of a $1.3 trillion tax break over 10 years to the already very-wealthiest in the US. Or an unnecessary war with Iraq that will cost how many billions per day? So 3rd Ward residents who are against the war in Iraq should consider voting for the candidate who went on record to say he would support an anti-war resolution - that would be Shane Price. Social Security reform featuring personal accounts that can be left to one's survivors. Black families would benefit from such a system because black men have a shorter life expectancy and are thus less likely than white men to see the benefits from their lifelong contributions to the current system. With this reform, at least they could leave the account balance to their children. [MS] - Or maybe black families would benefit from a system where black men did not have such a short life expectancy. What does the GOP propose to do about that? I know a 3rd Ward candidate who's got some pretty good experience in that area through his work with Hennepin County. That would be Shane Price. Tax reform, including one proposal that would remove from the tax rolls any family earning less than $30,000 a year. [MS] - I'm sure a lot of struggling families of any race would support this. Too bad the GOP dropped it to pass the big tax cut for the filthy rich first, which combined with the big spending increases for homeland security, makes new tax cuts a little harder to push forth. Besides, didn't I read recently that there were those in the GOP who thought the poor were undertaxed? Maybe struggling families would prefer to support a candidate who offers ideas to help them find opportunities to develop stronger skills and get better jobs. Like the candidate who in his interview with Brown Tones, calls for expanding localized economic opportunities; and creating new jobs and bringing more young men and other people who have been excluded into the development equation. The city is growing, and the population is growing and developments are happening without people of color at the table. If you missed the Brown Tones interview, that candidate is Shane Price. And let's not forget gun rights. It seems to me that the people who are more likely to live in poor, crime-ridden neighborhoods should at least have the right to defend themselves. [MS] - First of all, I think this is a very bigoted view of blacks families, but that's what Mr. Tester put out there, so I'll go with it. So, maybe, just maybe blacks and anyone else living in poor, crime-ridden neighborhoods would prefer to support someone with a plan to help those neighborhoods pull themselves out of poverty and crime. See the previous statement for which candidate has a plan for that. Also note who has chosen to live in those poor, crime-ridden neighborhoods for his entire life and somehow has managed to survive without a gun - Shane Price. [MS] - Dennis Tester goes on to attack the Democrats and and their inability to help black families, but it's not up to me to defend them. I'll let someone from the DFL do that if they are so inclined. Mark Snyder Windom Park On 12/28/02 10:04 AM, Victoria Heller [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From today's Strib GOP agenda is better suited to needs of the black community http://www.startribune.com/stories/562/3557955.html ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Shane is the best 3rd/He is filthy(good)!!
In a message dated 12/28/02 10:02:38 AM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: [MS] - I'm sure a lot of struggling families of any race would support this. Too bad the GOP dropped it to pass the big tax cut for the filthy rich first, which combined with the big spending increases for homeland security, Dear Mark; I have a small question for you. Is the term filthy rich part of the Green Party's Doctrine? I was surprised when I heard Ken Pentel use the term in an address to the Property Rights Group before his loss in the last election. Because of the sweeping negative assumption expressed; it seemed demagogic to me. Perhaps it has a different meaning for the Greens; as in 'bad' is good in Ebonics. Is there a Gree-bonics where filthy is a term of endearment and respect? In which case, post Ken's coming out, he would be a filthy gay and we would aspire to be the filthy poor? I hope I figured this out correctly. Keith Reitman NearNorth ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Back-flow preventers
It is a safety measure that should have been added, and the valve put in, when your furnace was installed three years ago. It was also added to give work to the plumbing union members. Remember it requires a plumber and a permit in Minneapolis. The real question is why you do not simply change it yourself. Any idiot can do the job. Buy the parts and a MAPS gas torch, and do it yourself, since it is not rental property. I would volunteer to come over and help you, but it would be against the Law. One reason for graft and buying political favors being so common in Minneapolis is the requirement that State Licensed Plumbers and Heating people also be licensed in the City of Minneapolis. General Contractors are State Licensed and the state law prohibits a City from requiring a different License. I am sure if General Contractors had to be also City Licensed that prices would go up dramatically. City Licensed plumbers and heating contractors get paid considerably more than State Licensed people. This is another unfair tax on the poorest communities. The State Legislature needs to pass a bill, similar to the General Contractors License, which would prohibit Cities from this practice. Such practices promote graft and unfairly penalize the poorest of neighborhoods. If a State Licensed Plumber or Heating Contractor does the work to Code, and a City of Minneapolis Inspector inspects it, then why would you need an additional City License? Unless the City does not have faith in the City Inspectors? I happen to believe the City Plumbing, Electrical, Building and all Mechanical Inspectors do a good job, no matter who does the work, so I think a State License is adequate for any job. Licensure is to protect the consumer, not to provide graft, and Contributions for City politicians. I also think any person should be able to do work on a building, which they own, as long as it is properly permitted and inspected. The building owner is the consumer, and the license requirement is supposedly to protect that consumer. A building owner being able to pull his or her own permits would prevent a lot of work from being done and not inspected. If the purpose of inspections were to protect the public, such a provision would go much further in so protecting the public. The permit fees are low enough that there is no reason to not have work inspected, if you do not have to hire the work to be done. Again, we have good qualified inspectors to protect the public, lets make it easier to do their job and have all work inspected. It will probably take a State Law to accomplish this, as City Politicians are too accustomed to the Contributions to really address the issue. An example is what changes if any occured due to the Biernat affair. There was a bunch of empty rhetoric, but no real changes. The City kept its licensure powers where the State does not forbid it. In the interest of less corrupt City Government the State needs to control all licensure. Can you imagine if the City got to require additional Licensure to practice Law, or be a Doctor, to be a Teacher, or even cut hair or be a Beautician. NO, the Unions and City corruption has kept this situation from being addressed by the City so I guess we need the State to correct it. So David, when you pay a lot more for your plumbing than you would anywhere else in the State of Minnesota, call your City Council person and thank them for the privilege. The same permit will be pulled, the same work will be done, and the same quality inspection will be done. The only difference is that you will pay more. But David, you are politically active, so think of it as a political contribution. After all some percentage of your extra payment will go to Minneapolis politics. Jim Graham, Ventura Village ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Licensure
I, too, think the city fathers should get behind an effort to have licensure only by the state. That will be a strong sign that they don't want too much coziness with those regulated. It would be a clean-government move. And the state standards should be strong enough to suffice for Minneapolis. As Jim G said, there should be no reason that a homeowner with the skills can't get a permit and do the work and then get it inspected. This is a pro-consumer system of values and that is what our government should consider a priority. Personally, I wouldn't do too many things, but I know a lot of other men and women, confronted by the staggering per-hour rates of professional plumbers, would. I have to think that it is not the nature of the work that causes that but an artificial restraint on the market. If I, without either training or even aptitude, can do simple plumbing work, the rate of pay should be modest. But adverse regulations have made it nearly unaffordable for a lot of people. People who use plumbers have many more votes than the plumbers do. If the playing field is severely tilted, it has to be a corruption of democracy. We progressives should be helping to tilt the playing field back towards the level. = = Jim MorkCooper Neighborhood Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God--Matthew 5:9 United for Peace http://www.unitedforpeace.org/ __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Lisensure
Actually Anne, neither your electrical, nor your roofing permits (from this year) have been cleared (inspected). And according the the City's records, the dumpster usedto tear-off your old roof is still sitting in front of your house. :) Welcome to the world of residential general contracting in the City of Minneapolis. Dennis Plante Jordan LGC (State License - that is) From: "Anne McCandless" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Mpls] Lisensure Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2002 15:36:41 -0600 If you read the Strib today, I think you may find a state legislator who would help get that bill for you. I guess St Paul has some of the same policies as Mpls. I just wish that we could count on city inspectors to follow up on the permits and inspect the work. About 5 years ago, I had a new furnace put in by a reputable (fortunately) company in Mpls. That was in August. In April I got a nasty letter from the Inspections division chastising in me for not having the furnace checked. I contacted the inspector and informed him that nobody from inspections had ever attempted to inspect it or set up an appt to do so. I also told him that having gone through a whole heating season and not blowing up the neighborhood, chances were good that the work had been properly done. He did apologize and say that they were backed up and the letter was a form letter. Yeah, right. This spring I had extensive electrical work done by a licensed electrician who also got a permit. When he was done, he used my kitchen phone to call the inspector for my neighborhood and left a message telling him the work was done and to call him or me to set up a time to inspect the work. Three phone call later by him and one by me, I finally called my councilman. The inspector came out the next day, never rang the doorbell, but I saw him walk to the back of the house. When I went outside, he was standing in front of the new electric meter writing out a postcard to leave for me saying he had been there and couldn't get in. Needless to say, he was surprised when I said hello and I finally got my project inspected and the electrician could close out his job. In August of this year, I had a new roof put on, again by a licensed contractor who got a permit. No inspector was here while the work was done, none has been by since. I'll probably see one after a tornado goes through and if the roof is still on, he'll okay the work. I'm afraid my faith in the inspections division, when it comes to following up on permits, is nil. The fact that the city has the gall to charge already state licensed tradesmen is a joke. I figure, if an electrician or plumber is good enough to work in Orono or Eden Prairie, they're good enough for little old me. The key to getting good work is to thoroughly check out whose doing the work before you sign anything and realize that the low bid is not always the least expensive. And don't count on the city to protect you. Anne McCandless Jordan ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 3 months FREE*. ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Shane is the best 3rd/He is filthy(good)!!
On 12/28/02 12:49 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In a message dated 12/28/02 10:02:38 AM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: [MS] - I'm sure a lot of struggling families of any race would support this. Too bad the GOP dropped it to pass the big tax cut for the filthy rich first, which combined with the big spending increases for homeland security, Dear Mark; I have a small question for you. Is the term filthy rich part of the Green Party's Doctrine? I was surprised when I heard Ken Pentel use the term in an address to the Property Rights Group before his loss in the last election. Because of the sweeping negative assumption expressed; it seemed demagogic to me. Normally I would agree with Keith and apologize for being demagogic, because he's right and I was. However, I won't apologize for it because in this case, given what I am arguing against, I don't feel an apology is necessary because I've just seen too much greed among the very rich and I cannot honestly ignore it anymore. It's just too disgusting. Does anyone dispute this statement that appeared in a Strib editorial yesterday: To quote the Minneapolis Fed study, The households in the top 1 percent of the wealth distribution own 34.7 percent of the nation's wealth, and they are on average 1,335 times wealth-richer than those in the bottom 40 percent. That bottom 40 percent owns only 1 percent of the nation's wealth; indeed the bottom 80 percent owns only about half as much wealth as the top 1 percent. I know I'm not the only one who is bothered by that. Now please understand that when I talk about the very rich I'm not talking about someone like a Craig Miller or Keith Reitman (or even a Victoria Heller as much as I disagree with her at times) who work hard to provide good living or working spaces for their tenants. They deserve what they earn and for all I know aren't particularly rich anyway. What I'm talking about are the folks like the Bushes and the Cheneys who made millions as CEOs and then defrauded their stockholders to make millions more. And then they pass tax laws that allow them to keep even more of their ill-gotten gains. Or the corporations that register their headquarters outside the US to avoid paying taxes. Obviously nobody in the GOP is inclined to do or say much about this and the one Democrat who might have been was taken from us two months ago. I remember just a few days ago on Christmas being with my family and we were talking about the Vikings and the stadium sites being discussed in the northern suburbs. I'd read that one major reason such sites are appealing to Red McCombs is that he'd be able to collect the parking revenues that he cannot get now around the Metrodome or would have been able to get if a stadium had been built on the U of M campus. My gramma asked the question of just how much money does ol' Red need anyway? Does anyone have the answer to that because I sure don't. The greed displayed by the very rich in this country was part of what drew me to the Greens. I knew the GOP catered to that audience and it was becoming increasingly clear (especially at the federal level) that the Democrats were doing the same. Although it took me a while to fully grasp some of the Green positions regarding PACs and the money that floods politics from corporations, I do truly believe that the only way we're really going to see a change for the better both locally and nationally is if we leave behind the whole lesser of two evils mess that so many of us are caught up in and deliver a wakeup call by embracing additional parties. For me it's the Green Party and that's a big reason why I've supported Shane Price's campaign. For others it might be the Independence Party or some other party. All I suggest is that if you're not happy with the way things are going in politics these days, please open your mind to consider something other than the Big Two. Mark Snyder Windom Park ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Back-flow preventers
I have one question and one comment. First the comment. As evidenced by the fact that someone recently won the 300+ million powerball, itappears that the fiveminutes (in the last 8 years) is risky enough for the City to think it prudent to implement this new ordinance. No telling whena group of unsupervised youths are going to illegally open a fire hydrant of your street corner on a hot August day. Next the question: why is it that some of the emails I receive from the list consistently show-up in junk mail and some consistently show-up in my in-box.I've notice that anyone showing support for the DFL endorsed candidate show-up in the latter, whereas any dissenting opinonshows-up in the former :) Dennis Plante Jordan P.S. - as a licensed General Contractor - I would recomment thatbecome buddies with a City licensed plumber (a six-pack on a Sunday afternoon during a Packers game shoudl do it), find-out exactly what needs to be done, and do the work yourself. From: "David Brauer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Mpls list" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Mpls] Back-flow preventers Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2002 11:33:02 -0600 Here's a post that will have my anti-bureaucracy and landlord friends chuckling with "I told you so..." So we're selling our house (anyone want to live in prestigious East Kingfield?). Part of the selling process is getting a Truth-In-Housing inspection. Our abode - lovingly upgraded from the rental property it was when we bought it - passed with flying colors...except for the dreaded "back-flow preventer." These small pieces of shrapnel apparently keep water from flowing into the city's water system if somehow there is negative pressure. We need three of them. Two are $5 parts that screw on our exterior hose faucet and the one in our laundry tub. The third is a bit more problematic...it goes on the water supply to our boiler. That means cutting copper pipe, installing the thing, adding a second shut-off valve...in other words, a plumber and a permit. Since our plumbing was upgraded three years ago, I asked the inspector what the deal was. "New requirement as of June 1," he explained. "It's a silly thing...you'd probably only need one if a car hit the fire hydrant outside AND your boiler water supply was turned on...then the negative pressure might suck the water out of your radiators into the city system." Anyone with a boiler knows how infrequently they add water to their system. Our water supply has probably been on for a grand total of five minutes in the 8 years we've owned the house. The odds of negative pressure occurring WHILE the water supply is on roughly match the chances of winning the Powerball. So, my question: why was this requirement added? What was the justification? As always, I'll accede to superior info, but right now, this looks like one silly regulation. David Brauer King Field ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 3 months FREE*. ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Strib 3rd Ward primary preview
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3559486.html David Brauer List manager ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] 3rd Ward race- does the Gay community have a friend in this race?
Three weeks ago I issued a challenge to the 3rd Ward candidates- fill out Stonewall DFL's screening questionare and post the answers to this list. Three candidates screened with Stonewall DFL and two were found acceptable. One of these two acceptable candidates has since dropped out of the race. Green Party candidate Shane Price could have screened for Lavender Greens endorsement, but he has yet to return their screening form for the 2001 race. Of the remaining two score or so of candidates not a single one has taken up my challenge to fill out and post their answers to Stonewall DFL's questionnaire. So 3rd ward GLBT folks and friends are left with only one candidate- Olin Moore. Olin Moore is the only candidate in the race who has put down on paper his support for the Gay community. And Olin Moore is the only candidate in this race to have won the approval of any GLBT caucus. This may seem like a minor manner, but we have been duped before. In 2001 Natalie Johnson Lee never even screened with the Lavender Greens. Recently she voted against a measure that would have required that large city contractors provide domestic partner benefits to their employees. With republicans controlling the state house and governor's mansion 3rd Ward GLBT folks can't afford to lose another vote on the city council. We have one choice, and that choice is Olin Moore. Standing up for Olin Moore in Hawthorne, Dyna Sluyter p.s.: Today my tiny house and yard was littered with no less than five (5) pieces of Don Samuels' literature. Obviously Don Samuels is NOT the environmental candidate! Let's see- 5 pieces times 10,000 or so residences in the ward= 50,000 pieces of literature! I have to give Don Credit for getting such an incredible volume of literature from one in-kind under $300 donation!(LOL) Don's campaigners even tried to attach a couple pieces of lit to an Olin Moore lawn sign- a sure sign of a desperate campaign. Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 21:03:52 -0600 To: mpls-mnforum.org From: dyna [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Mpls] Third Ward politics and endorsements Cc: Bcc: X-Attachments: Also, some of the candidates apparently weren't invited to screen for the Stonewall DFL endorsement. At this time (sunday evening) I have yet to receive a request as a Stonewall DFL Board Member for a vote on an endorsement. It will thusly be impossible for Stonewall DFL to endorse before the convention tomorrow. Any alleged Stonewall DFL endorsement before the convention tomorrow is thusly bogus. With Stonewall DFL unable to make an endorsement candidates might want to post their answers to the Stonewall DFL endorsement questionnaire here on the list and in their literature. The questionaire is available at www.stonewalldfl.org/endorsements/questionare/city_council.htm . -- ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] Bike Racks and Paths
Downtown is woefully scant of bike racks. You would think they would be an obvious investment to go along with all of the bike lanes. Also, we need bike lanes ALL the way down Hennepin, down Lake, down Franklin and down Lyndale, especially here in Uptown. I'm sick of SUVs mowing me down because I have to share a lane with them. Uptown is HEAVY in bike traffic. It is against city law to bike on sidewalks, and just plain unsafe. -Mike Jones Uptown _ MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 3 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmailxAPID=42PS=47575PI=7324DI=7474SU= http://www.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsgHL=1216hotmailtaglines_advancedjmf_3mf ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] 3rd Ward race- does the Gay community have a friend in this race?
Dyna et al, Your post is farcical. In order for a Green Candidate to be Green he or she must agree with the ten values of the Green Party and the Green Platform which includes respect for LGBT rights. The Green Party currently has the most progressive platform for the LGBT community. The platform calls for complete legal and social recognition for LGBT persons including the full right to marry. This is somethin that hte DFL and the national Democrat Party not only has failed to call for but has actively voted against. Let us not forget the vote for DOMA by most DFL national legislators. Please oh PLEASE stop painting the Democratic Parrty as the Party for LGBT individuals. It is a party for opportunists that claim the LGBT vote. -Brandon Lacy -Powderhorn Park _ MSN 8 limited-time offer: Join now and get 3 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/dialupxAPID=42PS=47575PI=7324DI=7474SU= http://www.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsgHL=1216hotmailtaglines_newmsn8ishere_3mf ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] 3rd Ward race- does the Gay community have a friend in this race?
Dyna, I have this vision of you being a police detective. Your powers ofdeductive reasoning are astounding. imho-the signof a desperate campaign is: when continued (bordering on a fixation) baseless inferences are made towards issues such as campaign finacing. To the best of my knowledge, other than an occasional sound byte for Shane, you've mentioned Don Samuels more than the candidate you're supporting. And we're desperate? BTB-thefour children with my wife tookwith her whilehanding out literature today were promptly told by my wife that attempting to attach a Don Samuels (even though he's better looking) flyer to Olin's yardsign was not appropriate behaviour. Maybe my wife'll receive a formal reprimand from the DFL Party? The nerve, taking the time to get kids involved in politics. I'll have a talk with her. Dennis Plante Jordan From: dyna <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Mpls] 3rd Ward race- does the Gay community have a friend in this race? Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2002 00:23:49 -0600 Three weeks ago I issued a challenge to the 3rd Ward candidates- fill out Stonewall DFL's screening questionare and post the answers to this list. Three candidates screened with Stonewall DFL and two were found acceptable. One of these two acceptable candidates has since dropped out of the race. Green Party candidate Shane Price could have screened for Lavender Greens endorsement, but he has yet to return their screening form for the 2001 race. Of the remaining two score or so of candidates not a single one has taken up my challenge to fill out and post their answers to Stonewall DFL's questionnaire. So 3rd ward GLBT folks and friends are left with only one candidate- Olin Moore. Olin Moore is the only candidate in the race who has put down on paper his support for the Gay community. And Olin Moore is the only candidate in this race to have won the approval of any GLBT caucus. This may seem like a minor manner, but we have been duped before. In 2001 Natalie Johnson Lee never even screened with the Lavender Greens. Recently she voted against a measure that would have required that large city contractors provide domestic partner benefits to their employees. With republicans controlling the state house and governor's mansion 3rd Ward GLBT folks can't afford to lose another vote on the city council. We have one choice, and that choice is Olin Moore. Standing up for Olin Moore in Hawthorne, Dyna Sluyter p.s.: Today my tiny house and yard was littered with no less than five (5) pieces of Don Samuels' literature. Obviously Don Samuels is NOT the environmental candidate! Let's see- 5 pieces times 10,000 or so residences in the ward= 50,000 pieces of literature! I have to give Don Credit for getting such an incredible volume of literature from one in-kind under $300 donation!(LOL) Don's campaigners even tried to attach a couple pieces of lit to an Olin Moore lawn sign- a sure sign of a desperate campaign. Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 21:03:52 -0600 To: mpls-mnforum.org From: dyna <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [Mpls] Third Ward politics and endorsements Cc: Bcc: X-Attachments: Also, some of the candidates apparently weren't invited to screen for the Stonewall DFL endorsement. At this time (sunday evening) I have yet to receive a request as a Stonewall DFL Board Member for a vote on an endorsement. It will thusly be impossible for Stonewall DFL to endorse before the convention tomorrow. Any alleged Stonewall DFL endorsement before the convention tomorrow is thusly bogus. With Stonewall DFL unable to make an endorsement candidates might want to post their answers to the Stonewall DFL endorsement questionnaire here on the list and in their literature. The questionaire is available at www.stonewalldfl.org/endorsements/questionare/city_council.htm . -- ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 3 months FREE*. ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
[Mpls] 3rd Ward race- does the Gay community have a friend in this race?
Valdis Rozentals has been endorsed by the Log Cabin Republicans. Connie Nompelis Ventura Village Friends for Valdis __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ___ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
